If you’re thinking about driving to Disney World or renting a car once you get there, then you need to understand about the Disney World Transportation and Ticket Center. All Disney World Magic Kingdom parking takes place here, but it isn’t only a parking spot for your car. The Transportation and Ticket Center, also known as the TTC, is in a way a transportation hub. Here’s everything you need to know about this often-overlooked part of the Disney World vacation Experience.
Where Can I Find Disney World Magic Kingdom Parking?
Magic Kingdom has no visitor parking lot located at the park. Instead, all Magic Kingdom parking is located about a mile away at the Disney World Transportation and Ticket Center. The TTC offers parking for all resort guests visiting the park as well as those driving from offsite resorts.
The parking lot is split into two sides, named Heroes and Villains. The Villains side features parking locations named after Disney villains. They include: Jafar, Hook, Ursula, Zurg, Scar, and Cruella. The Heroes side has sections named after Woody, Simba, Mulan, Aladdin, Peter Pan, and Rapunzel.
Once you park in one of these lots, you will have to board a tram, or walk to the Transportation and Ticket Center to board a monorail, or ferry to access the Magic Kingdom.
It should be noted that since post COVID-19 shutdown, trams have not yet returned to the parking lots for the other parks, but they returned to the Walt Disney World Transportation and Ticket Center in December of 2021. Trams should be returning to the other parks sometime in 2022.
Parking at the TTC comes in three tiers. For standard parking, it costs $25 per day for one car or motorcycle.
Preferred parking costs $45-$50 per day for one car or motorcycle. Preferred parking allows you to snag one of those up-close parking spaces for a quicker commute to the park.
Oversized Parking for RVs, or other larger vehicles, costs $30 per day per vehicle.
Guests who are staying onsite at a Disney World resort hotel do not have to pay an additional fee for theme park parking. They do, however, have to pay a nightly fee to park at their resort. This fee varies based on the resort where you are staying.
For a complete breakdown of parking fees per resort and per park, click here.
Transportation from the Disney World Transportation and Ticket Center to the Magic Kingdom
Now that you have parked in one of the Heroes or Villains parking lots, its time to go from the Walt Disney World Transportation and Ticket Center to the Magic Kingdom Park. To do this, you have three, sometimes four, options.
The first option is to board the Magic Kingdom Ferry boat to the park. This large boat can carry up to 600 guests from the TTC to the park, and back. During peak times, the other transportation modes can fill up quickly, resulting in long lines. Many report that during park opening and closing, the large capacity boats are actually quicker. But, be aware that seating is limited on the boats, so you may find yourself standing for the entire ride, which is less than 10 minutes.
Next, you have the option to board two different monorail lines to access the Magic Kingdom from the Disney World Transportation and Ticket Center.
First, there is the Express Monorail which offers service directly to the Magic Kingdom park without stopping. This is your most direct route to the Magic Kingdom. But, be aware that during peak times, such as park opening and closing, this monorail lines sees crowding and long lines, which can, and most likely will, delay your travel.
Additionally, you can board the resort monorail for more indirect access to the Magic Kingdom. This monorail will first stop at the Polynesian Resort, then the Grand Floridian Resort to pick up guests before arriving at the Magic Kingdom resort.
The resort monorail line often sees smaller crowds, but does take longer to give you park access. Depending on the lines at the ferry and Express Monorail, this may be your best bet for quicker access to the Magic Kingdom.
Lastly, there is an occasional fourth way to travel to the Magic kingdom from the Transportation and Ticket Center. During high crowd times, Disney will occasionally operate a bus that runs directly from the TTC to Magic Kingdom.
This transportation mode is not to be planned on, as it operates somewhat sporadically. Be sure to ask a cast member if the bus is operating before following the walkway to the right of the TTC to find it.
Also, be aware that just because you boarded the bus to the Magic Kingdom, it does not necessarily follow that you will be able to take a bus back to the TTC later in the day. The bus may operate at opening on busy days, but may cease to run during the day when crowds diminish, or may not run again at all that day.
What Else Happens at the Disney World Transportation and Ticket Center?
Disney World’s Transportation and Ticket Center operates as a hub for EPCOT travel as well. While EPCOT does have its own parking lot which provides direct access for those with cars, all monorail traffic to EPCOT begins and ends at the Disney World Transportation and Ticket Center.
To access EPCOT from any of the resorts on the Magic Kingdom monorail line, such as the Polynesian, Grand Floridian, Contemporary, and Bay Lake Towers, you will need to first board the resort monorail line.
From there, depart the monorail at the TTC, and then walk down the exit ramp from your monorail, and enter the line for the EPCOT monorail. The EPCOT monorail makes no stops at resorts and travels directly from the Walt Disney World Transportation and Ticket Center to EPCOT.
Similarly, if you wish to park hop from the Magic Kingdom to EPCOT, you will need to get on either the resort or express monorail and get off at the TTC stop, and then board the EPCOT monorail there.
If you are a guest who is driving and hoping to just visit EPCOT, it makes more sense to park in EPCOT’s parking lot, rather than the TTC. But, if you are hoping to park hop and visit both the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT parks in one day, it may make sense to park at the TTC instead.
In the past, the TTC also offered bus transportation to the other parks for park hopping purposes from Magic Kingdom. But somewhat recently, additional bus stops have been added at Magic Kingdom erasing the need for these buses at the TTC.
Rideshares and the Walt Disney World Transportation and Ticket Center
If you are planning to use an Uber of Lyft from your onsite or offsite resort to get to Magic Kingdom, be aware that these services are not allowed to drop you off directly at the Magic Kingdom.
Instead, they must drop you off at the Walt Disney World Transportation and Ticket Center.
This means from your Uber of Lyft, you will then need to board the monorails or ferry to get to Magic Kingdom.
When Minnie Vans were in service prior to the pandemic, they would drop guests off directly at the Magic Kingdom. We are hoping this service will return at some point, but the outlook does not look good.
That all being said, we have discovered one loophole regarding rideshares and access to Magic Kingdom. In the past, we have had drivers drop us off at the Contemporary resort rather than the TTC.
From this resort, the Magic Kingdom is quite literally across the street. Just walk 5 short minutes, and you will be in the park. This method shaves off commute time, and helps you avoid lines at the TTC in the morning.
Security Checks at the TTC
You need to go through security checks prior to entering the Disney parks. Nowadays, they have added security checkpoints to the TTC. This means you will go through a security check and bag check prior to boarding the ferry or monorail.
This means once you arrive at the park, you can walk right up to the turnstiles rather than waiting in line to pass security prior to entering the park.
Purchasing Tickets at the TTC.
There is a reason that the Walt Disney World Transportation and Ticket Center is named that. Besides transport, you can deal with all your ticketing needs here.
The TTC often has more cast members to help with ticket purchases and any ticket issues than the parks do. This can mean shorter lines so you’ll get off to the fun quicker. This is a particular advantage for day guests who are coming in from an offsite resort or elsewhere as they can move right to the turnstiles upon arriving at the Magic Kingdom
The Polynesian Resort and the TTC
The Polynesian Resorts is one of our favorite places to stay. Besides the beauty, the theming, and the atmosphere, we love the Polynesian because of the close proximity to the Walt Disney World Transportation and Ticket Center.
The Polynesian is located directly next to the TTC, and from rooms on that side of the resort, you can get there with a five-minute walk.
This will give you quick and more direct access to the EPCOT monorail than is available from any other Disney World resort. By using this trick, you will no longer need to board the resort monorail, ride through two more resort stops and the Magic Kingdom stop, then exit at the TTC to then board the EPCOT monorail.
Instead, just walk to the TTC and board the EPCOT monorail. This will make your EPCOT commute quicker, smoother, and less crowded.
